Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against Align Technology, Inc.

SAN DIEGO --(Business Wire)--

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/align/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of Align Technology, Inc. ("Align") (NASDAQ:ALGN) common stock during the period between April 23, 2012 and October 17, 2012 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Darren Robbins of Robbins Geller at 800-449-4900 or 619-231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@rgrdlaw.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/align/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of teir choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Align and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Align designs, manufactures and markets Invisalign, a proprietary method for treating the misalignment of teeth.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued materially false and misleading statements regarding Align's current financial condition and quarterly and year-end revenue and earnings outlook for fiscal 2012. As a result of these misrepresentations and/or omissions, Align's stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $39.17 per share on September 13, 2012, and allowing Company insiders to sell more than 1.5 million shares of Align stock at artificially inflated prices for illegal insider trading proceeds of more than $52 million.

Then on October 17, 2012, the Company disclosed that as a result of the termination of its distribution agreement with the Straumann Group ("Straumann"), the Company's exclusive distributor in Europe, it would review its goodwill and possibly take a substantial impairment charge, which would erase a significant amount of the goodwill value of Cadent Holdings, Inc. ("Cadent"), a leading provider of 3D scanning solutions for orthodontics and dentistry, which Align had acquired in April 2011. On the same day, the Company issued a press release pre-announcing its third quarter fiscal 2012 financial results, which missed Wall Street analysts' revenue and earnings expectations. In addition, the Company reported that Cadent scanner and CAD/CAM sales and services revenues had declined nearly 16% year-over-year. Finally, the Company issued a weak revenue and earnings outlook for the fourth quarter of 2012, well short of prior expectations. On these disclosures, Align's stock price plummeted more than 20%, from a close of $35.41 per share on October 17, 2012 to a close of $28.18 per share on October 18, 2012.

According to the complaint, defendants' statements during the Class Period concerning Align's current financial condition and financial results for fiscal 2012 were each false and misleading, because defendants knew or deliberately disregarded and failed to disclose the following facts: (a) the Company's reported income and earnings were materially overstated, as the Company failed to timely write down goodwill associated with the Cadent acquisition; (b) negotiations with Straumann concerning its distribution relationship with Align had failed or been failing and therefore the goodwill associated with the acquisition of Cadent had already been materially impaired; and (c) the Company's sales and current sales trends could not support the Company's third quarter and fiscal 2012 financial forecasts.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Align common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. With nearly 200 lawyers in nine offices, the firm represents hundreds of public and multi-employer pension funds with combined assets under management in excess of $2 trillion. The firm has obtained many of the largest recoveries in history and has been ranked number one in the number of shareholder class action recoveries in MSCI's Top SCAS 50 every year since 2003. According to Cornerstone Research, the firm's recoveries have averaged 35% above the median for all firms over the past seven years (2005-2011). Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com for more information.